AID teams up with Luminar for advanced LiDAR sensing technology

AID´s goal of bringing autonomous driving to urban mobility services by 2021 is being supported by an ambitious strategic Partnership Program.

München, Germany – December 18, 2018. AID-Autonomous Intelligent Driving GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of AUDI AG and the ‘center of excellence’ for urban autonomous driving in the Volkswagen Group, announced today a partnership with Luminar Technologies Inc. to deploy its LiDAR technology.

Since launching in March 2017, AID has been scouting the best complementary LiDAR solutions in the market that can support the depth sensing demands of the autonomous driving test fleet currently driving in the city of Munich.

“Having started out just last year, our aim is to work with the best brands within the industry to accelerate our vision that will be realized across the entire VW Group,” said AID chief technology officer, Alexandre Haag. “Perception remains a bottleneck today for autonomous mobility and we quickly worked to find the most powerful sensors to make the perception task easier. That’s where Luminar comes in - the technology is clearly above the pack in terms of range and density, which is important for solving the most challenging problems in autonomy.”